BOSTON -- State officials reported Thursday that the Massachusetts Connector’s revamped website passed its first test with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services “with flying colors,” earning another month to work out remaining problems and prove that efforts to build a new state-based health exchange will be successful for the fall.

Maydad Cohen, the governor’s point man for developing a new health insurance enrollment website, said another meeting with CMS will take place in early August when a final decision will be made on whether Massachusetts is on track to have a functioning exchange or should be forced to join the federal marketplace.

Cohen said the Connector is also now confident that the website, which is being developed by the Virginia-based hCentive and overseen by the IT vendor Optum, will allow for a single “front door” that will improve the consumer experience by allowing anyone eligible for Medicaid or a subsidized health plan to apply on the same website.

Previously, officials believed the site would not be ready by November to handle that volume of applicants, and planned to direct those determined to be Medicaid eligible to another website to enroll in MassHealth.

“We remain cautiously optimistic the hCentive project will be a in a good place,” Cohen told the News Service.

The state was forced to develop this “dual track” strategy after the website designed by vendor CGI failed to function properly last fall, requiring the state to process thousands of applications for health insurance by hand and shift those who could not successfully enroll in new Affordable Care Act plans to temporary Medicaid coverage.

Through July, Connector staff and IT vendors on the project will continue to prepare for both possibilities, and Cohen said the state does not yet have an updated project cost beyond the initial $121 million estimate.

“We’re going to manage it very carefully so we don’t spend too much time or money on something that may not be necessary,” Cohen said.

Cohen and his team met Monday in Washington D.C. with Marilyn Tavenner, administrator of the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, to demonstrate the progress made to date on developing the new hCentive-powered website and the functions scheduled to be operational before their next meeting, likely during the first week in August.

The software being used to determine program eligibility in Medicaid has so far been successful for 85 percent of test cases. While it is more accurate at 97 percent for individuals seeking to enroll, the system has encountered problems correctly determining eligibility when more complex family situations are introduced. Cohen said the CMS has not put an exact target number on the success rate for hCentive to get the green light in August, but programmers have already identified one fix that should clear up 50 percent of the failures, officials said.

Page 2 of 2 - Negotiations on a formal contract with Optum, which was brought on board in February to replace vendor CGI, continue, but Cohen said he expects for that process to be finalized by the time officials go to meet with CMS in August so a final budget and request for federal funding support can be made at that time.

In June, CMS approved $17.5 million for the state to put toward services delivered by Optum since February out of a total of $28.5 million owed the company. In addition to identifying $40 million in previous federal grants for the development of the state’s exchange that can be applied to the new project, officials said they hope that some of the decisions made during the build out of the hCentive site will result in additional savings.

“I think our sincere hope is that the federal government will pay for the entire amount,” Cohen said.

The federal government has allowed Massachusetts to continue to offer coverage through existing subsidized Commonwealth Care plans and a temporary Medicaid product through the end of the year. Secretary of Administration and Finance Secretary Glen Shor said the number of subscribers in temporary Medicaid coverage has grown to 237,000 and the state has paid out $138 million in claims before the federal 50 percent match.

Despite having not planned for the higher MassHealth enrollment, Shor said the administration expects the vast majority of those in temporary coverage to eventually be deemed eligible for either Medicaid or subsidized coverage, limiting the additional costs associated with the state’s inability to permanently place them in a health plan last fall.

The federal government has agreed to retroactively pay the state the higher reimbursement rates allowed under the Affordable Care Act for any consumer ultimately placed in Medicaid.